Machine for aligning glass block sections and pressing them together



June 3, 1941. H. L. EASTUS I MACHINE FOR ALIGNING GLASS BLOCK SECTIONS AND PRESSING Filed Nov. 8, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 171. zaa uv INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

MACHINE FOR ALIGNING GLASS Filed Nov. 8, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet fi IN V EN TOR.

- ATTORNEYS.

' H. L.. EASTUS BLOCK SECTIONS AND PRESS ING THE M TOGETHER Filed Nov. 8, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 i HL 5104224 7 INVENTOR.

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Jun 3, i941.

H. L, EASTUS MACHINE FOR ALIGNING GLASS '5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 5 1939 INVENTOR.

. y ATTORNEYS.

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blocks are supported while Patented June 3, 1941 MACHINE SECTIONS AND GETHER Harold L. Eastus, Muncie,

FOR ALIGNING GLASS BLOCK PRESSING THEM TO- lllinois Glass Company, Application November 8, 1939, Serial No. 303,456

4 Claims.

. The present invention relates to improvements in glass block handling machines and is directed particularly to a machine for automatically aligning pairs of glass block sections, after bonding material has been applied to the sections, to form a completed block.

It is an object of machine adapted to receive a p sections at a loading station, ali sections together at said station, cally move the block to a succ this invention to provide a air of glass block gn and press the and automatieeding station where excess bonding material is automatically I removed from the surface of the block.

Another object of sion of automatic means for controlling successive operations of the machine through a complete cycle.

the invention is the provi- Other objects and features of novelty will become apparent during the course of the following description.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view chine;

Fig, 2 is a plan view of the block wiping mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the maof the ma- Fig. 4 is a sectional view through a trip valve, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on line 6-5 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic chart of the cycle of operation; a

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 8-8 of Fig- 1;

Fig. 9 is'a plan view Fig. 10 is a sectional mechanism; and

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic piping chart showing the air supply lines, air motors and controls.

Generally, the apparatus comprises a wheeled base I5 having a stationary column l6 mounted centrally thereon and rotatably supporting a block carrying table H. The table is provided with radial arms It! or extensions on which the passing through the of the timing mechanism; view of the table indexing various stages of operation. motionis imparted to the table for periodically indexing it to the several stations which are located 90 apart. .A pair ample, rectangular hollow glass block sections, to be joined together, are placed on one of the arms ID at the loading station indicated on Fig. 5

' at A. At this station air operated aligning mech- Intermittent rotary .of block sections for ex- 3|! by pins ping surfaces 35 Ind., assignor to Owensa corporation of Ohio from the surface of the block. It will become apparent from the following description that the aligning and wiping operations at stations A and B respectively take place substantially simultaneously within the period in which the table is at rest.

Pressing units 20 or heads for applying top pressure to the blocks are mounted for rotation with the table and are lowered into contact with the blocks at station A immediately following the aligning of the block sections. The heads remain in pressing contact with the blocks throughout the'remainder of the cycle until the blocks reach the unloading station C. Air operated piston motors are employed for performing the various operations and.are controlled by a timing mechanism T (Figs. 1, 3, 9 and 11) which operates valves in the air supply lines leading to the and the piston operates vertically beneath the pad 2|. A clamping unit 21 (Figs. 1 and 6) mounted on the upper end of the piston rod 26 comprises a casting having mounted therein a pair of opposed pistons 28 provided with piston rods 29 projecting outwardly therefrom and at right angles to the ,arm l8 of the table.

Cross-heads 30 in the form of an inverted T are secured, to the rods 29 and are provided with guide rods 3| which project into the casting and slidably support the heads in -vertical position.

Clamping blocks 33 pivoted on the cross-heads 34 are provided with V-shaped gripwhich are adapted to engage diagonally opposite comers of the upper and lower block sections and move them into align- 24 having a pis-- ton 25 therein to which a piston rod 26 is connected. The cylinder 24 is supported on the base l5 pressure controlled by the timer.

ment as the pistons are drawn inwardly by air The blocks 33 may be loosely mounted on the pivot pins 34 or held in fixed position by thumb screws 35 (Fig. 6).

Immediately upon conclusion of the clamping 1 operation the pressing head 28 is lowered into contact with the block to firmly press the'block sections together in their aligned position. The

pressing head 20 includes a plate 38 which is yieldably mounted on coil springs 38 in order to avoid over-pressing. When the block sections have been pressed together, air pressure is supplied to the inner ends of the pistons 28 to move the clamping blocks outwardly, after which the clamping unit 21 is lowered to a position beneath the arm I8 by the motor 24. The press plate is supported by a piston motor 40 mounted for rotation with the table I1 on one arm of a spider 4|. A sleeve 42 surrounding the column I6 rigidly connects the table I1 with the spider and further maintains the pressing head in vertical alignment with the glass block.

After the block aligning mechanism has reached its lowered position, the table is indexed 90 in a clockwise direction to bring the -newly joined block to the wiping. station B. Mechanism for rotating the table includes an air motor 45 (Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 10) mounted on a bracket 45 formed as a part of the base of the column IS. A piston 41 within the motor carries a rod 48 which extends laterally across the machine and has its outerend slidably supported in a bearing 49. A cushioning device 50 formed on the outer end of the bearing includes a floating piston 5| capable of limited movement axially of the rod. A recess 52 in the inner face of the piston forms a seat for the end of the rod 48. As the rod 48 advances during operation of the motor 45, air under pressure is supplied under control of the timer to the outer end of the piston through a port 53. The piston is thus moved inwardly to be engaged by and cushion the rod 48 as it nears the end of its stroke.

Driving connection between the table I1 and rod 48 includes an arm 55 journaled on the column I6 and having a vertically extending boss 58 formed on its outer end. A plunger 51 or latch member yieldably supported within the boss by means of a coil spring 58 extends through either end of the boss and is adapted at its'upper end to engage recesses 59-formed in the under.

side of the table I1. The recesses 90 apart for the purpose which will become apparent presently. The lower end of the latch member 51 is provided with a flanged head 60 adapted to be engaged and moved downwardly by a similarly formed head 8| carried by a pull down cylinder 62 or air motor mounted on the motor 45. Aflink 64 pivoted at one end near the boss 56 on the arm 55 has its other end pivotally connected to the piston rod 48, thus providing a reciprocating action to the arm as the motor is operated. Fig. 10 illustrates the position ofthe arm 55 and rod 48 at the beginning of the table indexing stroke. When airis admitted to the right-hand end of themotor 45, the piston is moved to'the left, drawing the arm 55 and moving the table through 90? of rotation.

59 are. spaced The table is periodically held against rotation during the return or idle stroke of the piston 41 by a latching motor 55 which is controlled independently of the pull down" cylinder 62. The motor comprises a piston operated plunger 66 adapted to engage one of the recesses 59 and 98 medially of the .lead from the hold the table against rotation during the "aligning and wiping operations. The motor is supported on a stationary bracket 81. unit controlling the operation of the motor cylinder 65 may be adjusted to disengage the latch 58 just prior to the indexing stroke. Upon completion of the indexing stroke the latch 66 enters the recess 59 and holds the table against creeping or moving while the other operations are in progress.

When the arm I8 bearing the joined block sections comes to rest at the wiping station B, block wiping mechanism 10 (Fig. 2) is brought into operation. The mechanism generally includes a pair of recurved or arcuate arms 1I pivoted near their inner ends to a slide block 12 and provided on their outer ends with substantially triangular wiping blocks 13 adapted to closely follow the contour of the glass block and wipe or scrape oil the excess bonding material squeezed from the joint by the action of the pressure plate 38. An air motor 14 may be employed for reciprocating the arms and slide block to complete the wiping operation. Reference may be had to the Patent of Charles E. Hawk, No. 2,181,810 issued November 28, 1939, for a more detailed description of the wiping mechanism.

' Air under pressure is supplied to a series of trip valves 15 (Figs. 3, 4, 9, and 11) through a header line 16 which also may be connected directly to cylinder control valves 11, one of which is employed for each motor cylinder. Each trip valve 15 (Fig.4) comprises a casing 19 having a valve therein, the stem 8I of which projects outwardly and is adapted for en- 82 or block carried on a disk 83 to be described presently. A c011 spring 85 within the casing maintains the valve in closed position. Pipes 8B casing to, the control valves 11 which are of aspool type similar to the valve shown in section in Fig. 8.

Generally each valve includes a body 88 having a sliding valve core 89 therein. 'The air supply line 15 connects with the valve through a port body, the core 89 being adaptport 90 in communication with connected respectively by pipes ed to place the ports 9| and 92 93'and 94 to opposite ends of the motor cylinder.

Ports 95 permit exhausting air to escape from the cylinder. Fig. 8 illustrates the means for supplying air under pressure to the rotating spider 4| for operating the pressing cylinders 40. A chamber 98 formed in the bearing of the spider is in constant communication with a port 99 in the column I8 to which a supply pipe 15 is connected. Packing glands I99 are provided to prevent loss of pressure during rotation of the machine. The valves 11 controlling the cylinders 40 are further provided with rods I02 formed on either end of the valve core 89 and projecting through the ends of the valve body 88. Coneshaped buttons I03 on the outer ends of the rods are adapted to be periodically engaged by similar members I 84 carried by valve operating piston motors I05 of which there are two, one being located at the loading and aligning station for actuating the valve 11 for lowering the pressing plate 88 and one at the take-out station C for reversing the valve and lifting the plate. The rods I02, buttons I3, and motors I95 are employed in order to eliminate the necessity for providing a plurality of sealed rotatable joints for conducting operating air to the valves on the spider 4|,

, reduction gearing I09 by a motor H0. The disks corners, and pneumatic means for effecting engagement between said jaws and corners.

2. In apparatus of the character described, a

trol valve I1. As the piston 41 reaches the end of a. trip valve X whichis thus automatically rier tor said jaws, pneumatic means tor elevating rotary table having radial block holding arms, said arms adapted to support complementary sections of blocks in superposed relationship, means for rotating the table albouta vertical axis in a step-by-step fashion to thereby bring the arms successively to a series of stations.

83 are provided with arcuate slots Ill through which the blocks 82 are bolted for adjustment.

The cycle of operation may be understood by referring'to Figs. 7 and 11, the points indicated in Fig. 7 representing the relative positions of the blocks 82 on the disks 83. The cycle begins with the disk a operating the pull down cylin- 10 mechanism at one station for aligning the secder 62 for releasing the indexing arm 55 from tions including a pair of jaws engageable with engagement with the table for a free or idle diagonally opposed corners of an assembled stroke and followed immediately by the starting block, a carrier for saidjaws, pneumatic means disk D which controls the motor cylinder .45. for elevating the carrier to thereby align the During the forward stroke of the piston 4?, disk jaws and said corners, opposed piston motors on said carrier, means connecting the motors and jaws whereby operation of the former moves the jaws into and out of, engagement with said corners, and means for actuating the motors in synchronism with movement of the table and carrier.

'3. In apparatus of the character described, a rotary table having block holding arms extending outwardly therefrom, said arms adapted to receive pairs of glass block sections in substantially aligned relation, fluid pressuremeans for intermittently moving said table in step-by-step fashion to bring said arms successively to'a series of stations, means for securing the table against 0 operates to set the cushion 50 through its conof the stroke, (Fig. 10) the pivot block of the link 66 on the rod 48 strikes the protruding stem operated, and which reverses the control valve 11 and positions it for indexing the table. The tripping of valve X also causes the valve controlling the table latch 65 to-be reversed (Fish 11) to disconnect the plunger 66 from the table. While the table is indexing, disks d and e operate to raise the pull down and table lock and disconnect the cushion from the air supply in readiness for the next forward stroke.

When the table has come to rest and the lock rotation during the period of rest at each 65 seated under pressure, disk I operates to raise tion; said means being automatically releasable the aligning head 21 and at the same time pro-- upon movement of the table, aligning mechadllee t w d S ro e f e W p r W. The. nism at one of said stations for operatively eni k 9 then operat t e lampin pi ns 28 gaging diagonally opposed corners of the block for aligning the i -so block pieced 0h sections, automatically controlled means for the arm l8 of the table. While the clampis in raising and lowering said aligning mechanism P d h Operates e trip valve controlto and from operating position, and means for line the press heads 20, the he at Ste-tier! A applying top pressure to the glass blocks followbeing o ed o Pressing en agement with ing operation of the aligning mechanism; l the o an Setting t meter "1 t take-011i? 4. In apparatus of the character described, a. Station Disk 1 r es the aligning clamp rotatable table having; arms thereon each adaptter w ich disk i o er es to re n e wi ed to receive a pair of glass block sections in and lower e aligning h Disk 76 then superposed relation, pneumatic means for autocauses the head 20 at station C to be raised and matically imparting rotary motion to the table at the same time resets the motor I05 at sta- 5 at regular intervals in one direction to brin said arms successively to a series of stations. means for automatically locking said table against rotation between periods of movement thereof, block aligning mechanism at one of said stations including a vertically operable air motor, clamping means carried by said motor for operatively en ag ng diagonally opposed corners of the block sections to positively align them, means for applying top, pressure to the block immediately following alignment of the sections thereof and maintaining the pressure throughout one cycle ofmachine operation, and means for automatically controlling the operation or said mechanisms while the table is at rest.

' HAROLD L. EASTUS.

tion A.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. In apparatus of the character described, a rotary table having radial block holding arms, said arms adapted to support complementary sections of blocks in superposed relationship, means for rotating the table about'a vertical axis in a step-by-step fashion to thereby bring the arms succassively to a'serles 0! stations, mechanism at one station for aligning the sections in-- eluding a pair of jaws engageable with diagonal- 1y opposed corners 01 an assembled block, a earthecarriertotherebyalignthejawsand said 

